Abacha ‘Loot’ Not As Notorious As Diezani’s – Ibrahim Magu

The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has described as “more notorious” the alleged loot by former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, when compared to that of late military Head of State, Sani Abacha.

Magu, who revealed that Diezani’s extradition process was in the works, said the EFCC had recovered “not more than 15 per cent” of the former minister’s alleged loot.

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“We are working on the process of Diezani’s extradition. But we have to allow them (the UK government) because we are collaborating,” he told PUNCH.

“There is the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service in London, and our colleagues, the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in America. We had cause to meet in London. I was there myself for about a week. We are working not only on the Diezani case; but the Diezani case has become a test case.

“It is even more notorious than the so-called Abacha loot because we have not seen anything yet. I’m sure what we have seen is not more than may be 15 per cent. I think it is going to be a long time. That is why sometimes I think we should appeal to the looters to return the loot. Come and tell the government, ‘This is what I have stolen.’ Since you have voluntarily complied with the instruction to bring back the loot, then the government will take a decision. I think it is the best way to go about it, otherwise, the monies would be wasted.

“Diezani has a lot of people who are well connected, like (Jide) Omokore who are international businessmen. They have private aircraft and you can’t see any of them in Nigeria. They went and kept them in Ghana, some of them,” he said.

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